NBA Bubble Power Rankings Part II: The Middle Class

We're back at it with Part II of the NBA Bubble Power Rankings, counting down - from worst to first - the players, teams and other things that made the bubble special.

Today we're taking a look at the bubble's Middle Class. We'll start with those that left the bubble with mixed results, and span all the way to the fringe of the Top 100 (or the top 10 percent).

If you missed Part I: The Losers, you can check it out here. Otherwise, let's pick up where we left off...

499. Washington Wizards

I straight-up completely forgot that they were even in Orlando, so they couldn't have done anything overly embarrassing. Call it a push.

485. Khris Middleton

His 36/8/8 in a must-win Game 4 vs. Miami (largely sans Giannis) quieted some of the haters who think Freak needs a better second fiddle. Ultimately, nobody associated with the Bucks really came out of this a winner.

466. Kendrick Perkins

Perkins is quickly becoming one of the NBA's most insufferable talking heads, his half-baked hot takes served with an extra zip of arrogance and entitlement as a former player and ostensible clout-haver.

But he's also one of the most inescapable sports personalities on the internet, and got himself a Sports Illustrated cover feature, so he's doing at least something right.

451. Markieff Morris

Threw quite possibly the worst pass in NBA Finals history, but had the extreme fortune of doing so seconds after viral pariah Danny Green missed a wide-open three for the NBA championship, thus waltzing away mostly-unscathed.

440. Utah Jazz

Were spirited in defeat, especially Donovan Mitchell, who leveled up in a huge way these playoffs. But Utah fancied itself a contender coming into this season, and got bounced in the first round after choking away a 3-1 lead. Bojan Bogdanovic's injury aside, the result was sub-expectation. 

432. Fred VanVleet

426. Kelly Olynyk

419. Dennis Schroder

413. Orlando Magic

Saddled with injuries, they were more competitive than anyone expected in their opening-round loss to Milwaukee. But one of those injuries - Jonathan Isaac's second major left knee tear this calendar year - could alter the course of their franchise. 

402. Kristaps Porzingis

Speaking of untimely bum knees, Kristaps' absence had many questioning if the Clippers' upset might not have otherwise happened a round earlier. But the frequency of Zinger's leg injuries has to start becoming a red flag for a running mate to the generational Luka Doncic.

388. Daryl Morey

On one end, his team was sent packing earlier than they'd set out to, for like the sixth straight year. On the other, neither that reality nor the almost-half-billion he lost the NBA a year ago have cost him his job yet. 

379. Gordon Hayward

In one of the bubble's most bittersweet subplots, Hayward pushed himself back to playing shape after yet another injury, but had to miss the birth of his son to do so. 

362. Brian Anderson

He's no Marv Albert, but Anderson did well for himself to not lose his mind mid-broadcast on Reggie Miller and/or Chris Webber after having to repeatedly hang out with them together for hours on end. 

355. Bol Bol

346. Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi gets a bit of a pass here vs. the rest of the Clippers' roster. After all, he did just average 28/9/5/2+ for their playoff run, and at several times looked to be re-asserting himself as the very best player in the league. Unlike many of his teammates, he also kept his mouth shut for most of the season (as Kawhi does), dodging much of the backlash when they imploded. 

But the implosion is still a reality. As is the fact that the team Kawhi left behind also lost in a painfully ironic second-round Game 7, imploring many, probably Leonard himself, to wonder what might've been if he'd just stayed put. 

308. James Harden

Harden had a fairly neutral bubble. He delivered the summer's first signature game - a 49/9/8/3/3 masterpiece on 70% shooting in an OT win over Dallas on opening night, eventually being named to the All-Bubble First Team. He did more or less what was expected of him: Score 30/game, lose in the second round, everything in its place.

Houston faces a serious organizational crossroads this offseason, but Harden has little to fear. Their main goal will be to better maximize his talents, although Russell Westbrook's contract is a massive shackle.

Bonus points for, in a rare twist, delivering one of the postseason's best plays on a defensive effort.

298. Jae Crowder's shooting

It was really good. And then it really wasn't. 

277. Michael Porter Jr.

Burst onto the scene as a multi-tool scorer who has altered Denver's ceiling and possibly given them some tantalizing trade bait.

But he's also complete trash on D, and outed himself as an anti-vaxxer who thinks COVID is a government control mechanism, taking some of the shine off his breakthrough.

243. Nikola Jokic

Somewhat similar to his teammate Porter, Jokic was straight-up dominant for stretches of Denver's captivating playoff run, but his limitations on D are becoming a serious obstacle. Jokic is the worst rim protector physically possible for a player of his size, and is increasingly hunted in the pick-and-roll.

Jokic's defensive ineptitude is of far graver concern since he's the franchise player (ie definitely not being traded), spends more time on the court, and can be plausibly hidden against fewer opponents. 

But overall, these playoffs were a definite win for him, and Denver has plenty of maneuverability to help plug their defensive holes.

221. Toronto Raptors

It sucks how the Raptors went out. Pascal Siakam shrunk like he was visiting Anatomy Park. Marc Gasol mummified. The bad end of three-point variance struck Toronto in the worst way, at the worst time.

Still, their title defense, after losing Kawhi, was nothing short of remarkable. They were able to milk a few extra months as champs, and made Boston fight tooth-and-nail to finally dethrone them in the final minute of a Game 7.

202. OG Anunoby

201. Alex Caruso

200. Jaylen Brown

187. Boston Celtics

Nobody can really blame them for losing to the Heat. They played very well throughout the bubble (largely without Gordon Hayward), gutted out an impressive W over the reigning champs, and were still the youngest team in the playoffs.

They have upside and assets to spare as they continue their ascent, with Jayson Tatum now looking like a bonafide superstar.

176. Gary Trent Jr.

175. Jusuf Nurkic

174. Wenyen Gabriel

161. Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs were a playoff sleeper all season. Sporting a historic offense and a sneaky-deep rotation, Dallas was seen as a very viable upset candidate, even before COVID threw the season in a blender.

They came damn close, largely without Porzingis and with Luka Doncic playing on one foot. Even in defeat they made a statement, and have arguably the brightest future of any NBA franchise. 

150. Robert Covington

149. Caris LeVert

148. Mikal Bridges

144. Portland Trail Blazers

They won the West's 8th seed, which must have felt like its own mini-championship after the all-out melee the NBA contrived. The Blazers unearthed found money in several places (Carmelo Anthony, Gary Trent Jr, Wenyen Gabriel), and played their hearts out. 

But ultimately, the Blazers are largely still a one-way team with a fairly low ceiling. They've run it back for a half-decade as non-contenders, and look to be a major roster shift away from a breakthrough.

But for one brief moment, they took the NBA by storm. 

125. Serge Ibaka

124. Jeff Green

123. Jerami Grant

112. Jayson Tatum

Ultimately, the Celtics (and probably the NBA) would have loved to renew their storied rivalry with the Lakers in the Finals. If Tatum has his way, they won't be held back much longer.

At 22 years old, Tatum averaged 25/10/5 with a steal & block apiece, already solidifying himself in the NBA's upper echelon of stars. An upset in the highest-variance playoff setting ever (even amid Tatum's slow starts in the ECF) can only be a slight demerit against him. 

102. Dwight Howard

Dwight has been one of the most-scorned NBA players over the course of his 15-year career. Despite his Hall-of-Fame talent, pretty much everything else about him has made him incongruent to winning basketball.

After forcing his way out of Orlando in the most awkward and pretentious way possible, Howard bounced around the NBA for the better part of the last decade, always finding some way to ostracize himself. 

His signing by the Lakers was a gesture of mutual desperation, and many felt it was doomed for disaster with LeBron's championship aspirations and the lack of any evidence that Dwight could conform and behave. 

Well, he did. Howard was one of the NBA's best bench big men all year. By the Finals, he was starting. And now, after a highly turbulent career was written off by virtually everyone, he's an NBA champion.

Stay tuned for the Best of the Bubble, dropping soon...

One Month In: Thoughts on the Early NBA Season

It's hard to know exactly what to make of this 2015-16 NBA season thus far.

A few things are clear:

The Lakers are a total Autobahn crash. Towns, Okafor and Porzingod are for real. Paul George may have missed an entire season, but hasn't missed a beat. Trying to box out Andre Drummond is a futile effort. Trying to figure out the Sacramento Kings is too. A defensive-minded coach was a good fit for Orlando. Lance Stephenson wasn't a good fit for the Clippers. You should never count out Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle. And most notably, it is a very, extremely, unfathomably stupid idea to piss off Chef Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

But lurking beyond is a murky quagmire of uncertainty that's yet to settle from the season's initial impact:

The Bucks seemed destined for a mini-leap and are now in mini-panic mode. The Rockets seemed destined to contend and are well into complete panic mode. The Clippers are baring a troubling resemblance to their Staples Center roommates. The Pacers are 3rd in the East. The Wizards are last in their division. The East is experiencing a dynamic power struggle for the right to lose to Cleveland in the Conference Finals, and what was once thought to be a clear West playoff picture now looks about as well-defined as Oliver Miller's arm fat.

Sifting through the madness, here are a few random takes from the season thus far:

STATE OF WAR:
Getting the obvious out of the way; Golden State is completely crushing the NBA right now; off to by far the hottest start in league history, and seriously threatening to notch hi-scores for both longest win streak and best record ever.

That they're doing this is remarkable, but perhaps not entirely surprising. The Warriors were historically great last year, got to benefit from an unaltered roster, several guys who hadn't hit their ceilings yet, and listened to far too many morons crow about how they "got lucky" in the playoffs. For perhaps the first time ever, the champs came back with something to prove, and have served up a cold reminder of how golden silence can be.

- On a related note, the fact that Luke Walton can win Coach of the Month, but isn't getting credit for his victories on the Dubs' bench is one of the most ass-backward things I've seen in ages.

- How happy are the 5-15 Pelicans that they don't have to worry about Anthony Davis bolting for at least another five years?

LEAST NO MORE?
- Since Michael Jordan's 2nd Retirement (that just feels like a proper noun), the West has more or less dominated the NBA's balance of power. Sure, the Heat, Pistons and Celtics snuck in for a few titles, but the East has unquestionably been the weaker of the two conferences, accounting for both overall depth, and the several seasons where the title was effectively decided in the West Finals.

This season is so far suggesting an unlikely shift in that balance (the West was supposed to be better than ever this year), with the East's top 10 teams all above .500 for the first time in an eternity, and the 8-10 Wolves holding down the 8-seed out West. And this isn't just a result of the West roughing each other up. As I write this, 11 of the East's 15 teams have winning records cross-conference, including (gasp!) The Knicks.

There are many factors working against the West in this instant: The Warriors are beating the shit out of everybody. Several elite talents (Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins) have missed time early. The Rockets and Pelicans have gotten off to complete nightmare starts. The Grizzlies' first two weeks were nothing to write home about either. And the Blazers diiiid just lose five of their six best players.

Some of these things are bound to shift back to the Left Coast, but don't discount the possibility that - with so much money available to every NBA team next summer - this might be signaling a trend towards greater league parity.

- Watching Luis Scola in 60-70% of on-court situations is like seeing that guy at a bar who's like 20-30 years too old to be at said bar.

- Conversely, for all the talk of Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan's agelessness, Pau Gasol, at 35 - especially given all the international mileage he's clocked - is still such a beast.

- "They got Lawson for nothing" they said. "What's the worst that could happen??" they said...

HORNETS ABUZZ
One of the season's biggest early surprises has been Charlotte's wholly unlikely ascension to Legit Offense status, riding a balanced attack (six players averaging double-figures) to a robust 102 ppg - good for sixth in the league.

One obvious attribution is swapping in Nic Batum for Michael Kidd Gilchrist, who despite his defensive brilliance was limited on the other end, especially far from the hoop. Defenders were often able to sag off MKG, into the paint against Al Jefferson post-ups and Kemba Walker slashes. Not only does Batum's range prevent that, he's bluntly a far more-rounded offensive player. The Hornets also benefit from the addition of The Jeremys - Lin and Lamb - giving a pulse to a bench that sorely lacked a consistent scorer (unless you're counting the 13 games Mo Williams came off it).

This is all happening with Al Jefferson scoring fewer points than he has in almost a decade, which is a nice insurance policy for the Hornets in case of an injury/mismatch.

- To the suckers like me who took Nerlens Noel with your 2nd-round fantasy pick this year, my condolences.

- If Steph Curry ever allows the MVP Race to become a thing, Kawhi Leonard's looking like a very viable contender.

NEW EDITION
This year's rookie crop has produced encouraging early results, with the positive bolstered by the Towns/Okafor/Porzingis trio that are going to make Rookie of the Year a very fun race.


Okafor's endured some early-season um, turmoil, but looks every bit as good as advertised, with much more of an NBA body than he rocked last year (sidebar, to the guy(s) he banged out in Boston: you got what you had coming). Towns (who still likely has the highest ceiling of the three) might already be the best player in the Draft, and Porzingis (who figured to be a long-term prospect) is already an athletic multi-skilled asset with an impressive highlight resume (sorry LaMarcus).

Towns was my preseason pick, and despite the close margins (and his recent minutes cut), I still feel like he's the safest pick. He plays a sustainable, consistent game and is probably the least likely of these guys to hit the dreaded "Rookie Wall". But credit Porzingis; he's won over everyone from me to La La Anthony, and brought a badly-needed boost of optimism and excitement to the Knicks.

- The hypothetical 'Comeback Player of the Year' award would be an interesting sweat this year.

- And finally, one player who isn't coming back:

Kobe Bryant played his final game in his hometown this week, having recently announced his retirement after what will be two full decades in the NBA. It was a sobering reminder of the mileage and injuries he's endured over those years; watching him try and channel the player he used to be. He shot 7-26, meekly launching jumpers as the Lakers became the first team this season to suck more than the Sixers for 48 minutes.

As legendary a player as he was (we're talking - bar none - one of the ten best basketball players ever to walk the Earth), he couldn't dominate forever. The decision to hang it up must've been the hardest moment of Kobe's life (and yes, I'm counting this); not only a sociopathic competitor, but someone whose passion for the game was truly unparalleled - to the point of it alienating many who played with him.

Basketball has been Kobe Bryant's life. He walked, talked, ate, slept, showered, and breathed it. Through all the comparisons between Kobe and Jordan, the biggest difference between the two might've been that Kobe never, ever, in a million years would have quit to play another sport at the peak of his powers. He loved the game way too much.

For one of the most legendarily narcissistic egos in sports history to finally break down and admit he's no longer got it - consummating a divorce more painful for him than Colorado could've caused - is significant. An NBA without Kobe will take some getting used to; he was not only the closest thing to Jordan we might ever see, but a polarizing and fascinating persona. Instead of dwell on his somewhat lackluster exit from the league, let's remember the good times: